Role of nanotechnology in agriculture with special reference to management of insect pests

Abstract

Nanotechnology is a promising field of interdisciplinary research. It opens up a wide array of opportunities in various fields like medicine, pharmaceuticals, electronics and agriculture. The potential uses and benefits of nanotechnology are enormous. These include insect pests management through the formulations of nanomaterials-based pesticides and insecticides, enhancement of agricultural productivity using bio-conjugated nanoparticles (encapsulation) for slow release of nutrients and water, nanoparticle-mediated gene or DNA transfer in plants for the development of insect pest-resistant varieties and use of nanomaterials for preparation of different kind of biosensors, which would be useful in remote sensing devices required for precision farming. Traditional strategies like integrated pest management used in agriculture are insufficient, and application of chemical pesticides like DDT have adverse effects on animals and human beings apart from the decline in soil fertility. Therefore, nanotechnology would provide green and efficient alternatives for the management of insect pests in agriculture without harming the nature. This review is focused on traditional strategies used for the management of insect pests, limitations of use of chemical pesticides and potential of nanomaterials in insect pest management as modern approaches of nanotechnology.

Eugenol oil nanoemulsion: antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum and phytotoxicity on cottonseeds

“…An eco-friendly fungicide is under development that uses nanomaterials to release its pathogen killing properties only when it is inside the targeted plant pathogens (Choudhury et al 2010;Abd-Elsalam 2012;Rai and Ingle 2012). Eugenol has antimicrobial activity against a variety a Relative contribution (RC) to variation in wilt incidence calculated as percentage of sum of square of the explained (model) variation Fig.…”

Assessment of Cu- Chitosan Nanoparticles for its Antibacterial Activity against Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea

“…The use of chemical substances for controlling pathogen in soybean has been found to be effective (Allen et al, 2004;Curto et al, 2006;Brooker et al, 2007) however long-term affect of pesticides might be vast and catastrophic on human beings, animals and soil micro-flora. Therefore, it should be regulated sincerely for protecting the ecosystem (Rai and Ingle, 2012).…”

Effect of Laboratory Synthesized Cu-Chitosan Nanocomposites on Control of PFSR Disease of Maize caused by Fusarium verticillioids

“…The excessive use of toxic chemicals has lead to the deposition of nondegradable chemicals in environment which causes health hazards (Akoto et al, 2014) and also induces resistance in target pathogens (Bosch et al, 2014). These issues exert pressure to initiate alternative strategy to decrease dependence on pesticides in crop protection (Rai and Ingle, 2012). Biopesticide application has not been much exploited and still in rudiment owing to available fewer commercial formulations.…”

“…Chitosan has been researched noticeably in agricultural field for growth, development and protection (Hadwiger, 2013). Molecular nanobiotechnology enables customized molecule-to-molecule arrangement which display novel and more efficient bioactivities (Rai and Ingle, 2012). In agricultural field, utilization of chitosan based nano materials especially for growth, development and protection is rare as compared to bulk chitosan.…”